Christopher Joyce says Cork work ethic cannot be faulted
It was a tough journey rehabbing his knee back to full fitness, says the Na Piarsaigh man.
“I’m delighted, absolutely thrilled. It was a long year and there was a lot of hard work that had to be done. At the end of the day, though, Deccie (Declan O’Sullivan, team physio) gave me a route to go and I followed it as closely as I could - that was what got me back as quickly as I did. I’m over the moon to be back.”
He clicked back to top gear against Kilkenny in particular: “That was the one thing I was looking for after a couple of games, just to get a bit of consistency back into my game. I was just trying to cut down on mistakes I was making a bit.
“In the game against Kilkenny, I just felt that was the game I managed to cut the mistakes out. I was happy enough after that, it was an important step to getting some kind of consistency in place over 70 minutes.”
Cork haven’t won a game in the league and face Galway in tomorrow’s relegation battle. Familiar territory for the men in red.
“It is, we were there in 2013,” says Joyce. “Obviously you don’t want to lose all the games you play, but the championship is the most important thing to us, and we’ll be treating the game tomorrow like a championship game.
“It’s important to win tomorrow, but we also have the experience of previous years to draw on — after all, we ended up playing in an All-Ireland final the last time we were in a relegation play-off, back in 2013.
“We’re going into the game with the frame of mind that we’re going to win, and we want to win, but we have the experience in the panel to deal with whatever happens.”
That experience means they’re focusing on preparations for the championship rather than the results of the league.
“The team that played in the 2013 All-Ireland was a very young team, and now a lot of those players are maturing. I’m not panicking, neither is everybody else. We haven’t gotten the wins but we’re training hard and no matter what happens tomorrow our focus is still going to be on the championship.
“At the end of the day, it’s down to every player to apply himself and the effort everyone’s put in has been fantastic. Just because the results haven’t gone our way people might think there’s an issue there, but the work is definitely being put in.”
The sense of continuity helps, he says. Manager Kieran Kingston was a selector and coach under former boss Jimmy Barry-Murphy; team physio Declan O’Sullivan, mentioned above, is now the team’s physical trainer.
“Kieran would have been every player’s first choice as manager. When we heard who was coming in with him I don’t think the players could have been any happier. We knew him well and the newer players got to know him and the new management team very quickly.
”And there’s more continuity with Deccie as well. Players have huge respect for him, and when he says to do something it’s done to the best of your ability. It’s a big role that he’s stepped into but fellas have that respect for him.”
Salthill tomorrow should be sparky. Cork need a win. After ousting previous manager Anthony Cunningham, Galway need a performance.
“They were in the All-Ireland final last year, they’ve been there or thereabouts in the last couple of years,” says Joyce of Galway.
“They’re a big, physical team and they’re going to want to use their physicality against us tomorrow, we know that. We know what we’re dealing with, so do they, and both teams are obviously going to come up with game plans to deal with the other. It’s a big 70 minutes for both teams.”
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